Cheers for Monday, July 15, 2013

Monday

Jul 15, 2013 at 2:00 AM

To Jim Rauter, a sixth-grade social studies teacher at the J. Watson Bailey Middle School in Kingston and the latest YouTube sensation with a song about something that most people would agree is a very unmusical topic. To the tune of the old Glen Campbell hit "Galveston," Rauter sings his reaction to the effort in New York state to evaluate teachers. A typical lyric: "I wish that I was just proficient, yet I feel so darn deficient." He confesses that after going through the evaluation process, "Now I doubt my own perception." The audience in the YouTube clip all seemed to enjoy the song, but as he pointed out, it came on the last day of school "so they were happy and they'd laugh at anything." To the descendants of the Gumaer and Caudebac families and others who have been working with the Nature Conservancy's Neversink River Preserve and the Deerpark Reformed Church to restore the oldest known inland cemetery for settlers of the Hudson Valley. The cemetery on the Neversink River Preserve was covered by trees and brush for some 70 years. Restoration work on the cemetery began in 2010 after Ken Gumaer, a Cornell University philanthropist and Huguenot descendant, established a fund for the project. There are three burial areas, one for each of the original families and one that holds the graves of slaves who lived and worked there. To a group of seniors at Newburgh Free Academy who decided to do more with less this year and give back to those in need. They opted to scale back their original plans for a prom and donate a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales to the American Red Cross to help victims of Superstorm Sandy. In addition to cutting down on expenses, the students got help from Home Depot of Newburgh, Hudson Valley Photo Booth and Anthony's Pier 9. To Ulster County for helping homeless veterans. A newly renovated transitional home on Wurts Street should be open by the end of the year with 10-15 beds for homeless veterans from the county. Money for the project came from selling the SUNY Ulster president's home in Stone Ridge, from a generous donation by Bob Siracusano, owner of Sawyer Motors in Saugerties, and from United Way and other donors. The county will continue to maintain the home, which county officials hope will provide a model for others in New York state to follow. To parents and other community members in the Valley Central School District for attempting to restore programs that had to be cut from the school budget. Groups are trying to raise money for, among other things, junior varsity sports and the Junior ROTC program. To the Beth-El Church of God in Christ, a new storefront place of worship on Liberty Street in Newburgh, for holding a free "Feed the People" community barbecue on July 4. The Rev. Dwight Hunt said he chose that day to enhance the symbolism of the parish mission — helping people gain independence from the toll that poverty exacts on its victims.

To Jim Rauter, a sixth-grade social studies teacher at the J. Watson Bailey Middle School in Kingston and the latest YouTube sensation with a song about something that most people would agree is a very unmusical topic. To the tune of the old Glen Campbell hit "Galveston," Rauter sings his reaction to the effort in New York state to evaluate teachers. A typical lyric: "I wish that I was just proficient, yet I feel so darn deficient." He confesses that after going through the evaluation process, "Now I doubt my own perception." The audience in the YouTube clip all seemed to enjoy the song, but as he pointed out, it came on the last day of school "so they were happy and they'd laugh at anything."

To the descendants of the Gumaer and Caudebac families and others who have been working with the Nature Conservancy's Neversink River Preserve and the Deerpark Reformed Church to restore the oldest known inland cemetery for settlers of the Hudson Valley. The cemetery on the Neversink River Preserve was covered by trees and brush for some 70 years. Restoration work on the cemetery began in 2010 after Ken Gumaer, a Cornell University philanthropist and Huguenot descendant, established a fund for the project. There are three burial areas, one for each of the original families and one that holds the graves of slaves who lived and worked there. To a group of seniors at Newburgh Free Academy who decided to do more with less this year and give back to those in need. They opted to scale back their original plans for a prom and donate a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales to the American Red Cross to help victims of Superstorm Sandy. In addition to cutting down on expenses, the students got help from Home Depot of Newburgh, Hudson Valley Photo Booth and Anthony's Pier 9.

To Ulster County for helping homeless veterans. A newly renovated transitional home on Wurts Street should be open by the end of the year with 10-15 beds for homeless veterans from the county. Money for the project came from selling the SUNY Ulster president's home in Stone Ridge, from a generous donation by Bob Siracusano, owner of Sawyer Motors in Saugerties, and from United Way and other donors. The county will continue to maintain the home, which county officials hope will provide a model for others in New York state to follow.

To parents and other community members in the Valley Central School District for attempting to restore programs that had to be cut from the school budget. Groups are trying to raise money for, among other things, junior varsity sports and the Junior ROTC program.

To the Beth-El Church of God in Christ, a new storefront place of worship on Liberty Street in Newburgh, for holding a free "Feed the People" community barbecue on July 4. The Rev. Dwight Hunt said he chose that day to enhance the symbolism of the parish mission — helping people gain independence from the toll that poverty exacts on its victims.

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